Colleges building a sturdier future

With major construction plans both under way and in the works, and new courses on the horizon, local colleges are eagerly preparing for 2007.

The second phase of Wofford College's Evins Street apartment project, which will add at least 88 beds to the village-style housing, will open in August 2007.

The first set of apartments, which included 76 beds for upperclassmen, opened in fall 2006.

Four phases are included in the college's plans for the apartments, estimated to cost $20 million, and eventually will include a community general store with a meeting and laundry area in the center of the village, said David Wood, Wofford College senior vice president.

Phase three, and possibly phase four, will begin before the end of next year.

The newly renovated Main building will open in early

2007, according to college news services director Laura Corbin.

Wofford plans to offer new courses in government and media studies and film.

Dan Maultsby, dean of the college, said the additional courses would allow students who major in other areas to have minors in the new subjects.

Also, the college will continue developing programs in creative writing, neuroscience and computational science.

For example, a student could major in biology or psychology and have a concentration in neuroscience.

Wofford, which has offered courses in Chinese the past several years, will add a fourth year of advanced coursework in Chinese and will offer the major.

"We've been surprised at not only the number of students who've enrolled in those courses, but the retention rate has been high," Maultsby said. "We have four students studying abroad in China in the spring."

Limestone College recently received a $350,000 state grant to restore the Winnie David Hall of History. The college will need about $4 million to completely renovate the structure, considered one of the most distinctive and oldest buildings on campus. About $2.2 million, in private and state funds, already has been committed to the project.

College communications director Josh Crotzer said the college will kick off its capital campaign on Jan. 25 to help raise the additional $2 million needed for the work.

Six multi-media classrooms, three museums and galleries, and faculty offices will be housed in the building, Crotzer said.

"It's definitely a point of pride on our campus, and we're looking forward to being able to showcase Winnie Davis," Crotzer said, adding that an atrium area also will be used for small community and college events.

The college is also replacing bricks at its front entrance and eventually will expand the brickwork to the administration building, according to Karen Gainey, vice president for academic affairs.

Limestone will offer new music theater and strength-conditioning majors in the fall, Gainey said.

Converse College will renovate Kuhn Hall, which formerly housed science classrooms, in 2007.

The science labs will be converted into classrooms, according to college spokesman Eric Lawson. All science classes are now taught in Phifer Science Hall.

Converse has plans to introduce bioinformatics into its biology curriculum. Lawson said bioinformatics is the use of computer tools to organize biological information and databases, enabling scientists to use computers instead of live animals to conduct experiments.

The college also has plans to integrate sign language into its "Ideas and Culture series," a two-semester sequence of courses where students engage in debates. Lawson said students could use sign language to fulfill the language and culture requirement of the sequence, Lawson said.

The new addition to the Phyllis Buchheit administration building will open in March 2007, said Brian Fulkerson, college communications director. The $1.1 million expansion includes a new boardroom and conference center.

Fulkerson said 4,213 square feet would be added to the facility, which will include meeting space with greater technology capabilities.

"We will also continue to develop our strategic plan, including plans for campus facilities and the grounds," Fulkerson said, adding the plan is long term and could address future housing needs.

Fulkerson said enrollment has increased every year since 1998, with a present enrollment of 779 fulltime students.

Spartanburg Community College will add a new radiation protection technology program to its list of majors in the spring.

In a partnership with Duke Energy, the college will train students to test air, water and soil samples for levels of radiation, said Kelley Masessa, executive assistant to the president. So far, 43 students have shown interest in the 2-year, associate's degree program that will include a paid internship with Duke Energy. Students can expect to earn $12 to $15 per hour upon graduation.

The college expects to start phase two of its library project in 2007. The new $9 million library, which also houses the humanities department, will open in early January, and the second phase will include additional classroom space, labs and a multimedia facility. College officials also have plans to renovate their former library and to relocate continuing education programs there.

Construction on a $26.8 million, 145,000-square-foot health education complex on the campus of USC Upstate, will begin soon. The college awarded the construction bid to Oscar J. Boldt Construction Co. of Augusta, Ga., on Dec. 12. It plans to build the complex on the north side of the campus, adjacent to North Campus Boulevard.

The complex will house the schools of education and nursing, the campus bookstore, the new wellness center and enrollment management functions, according to communications director Tammy Whaley.

The facility will meet national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) specifications, where the complex will be designed and constructed to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, making it the college's first "green" building.

Construction is scheduled to be complete in late spring 2008, so classes can begin in fall 2008, Whaley said.

The college will begin offering an Engineering Technology Management major in January, in conjunction with five state technical colleges, including Spartanburg Community College and Greenville Technical College, for a "seamless transition" from the technical college to USC Upstate. The major is designed for working adults and traditional students, and the baccalaureate degree requires an associate degree in an approved program, offered by the technical schools.

The program builds on specialized engineering technology training, providing technical college graduates with additional technical components, according to USC Upstate. Graduates will be equipped to work as advanced technicians, supervisors and managers in their technical fields.

Lynne P. Shackleford can be reached at (864) 562-7424 or lynne.shackleford@shj.com.

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